hagen2456

I think there are a couple of misunderstandings on the side of the VC crowd. First there's the matter of the danger associated with separated bike paths. Yes, there are potential dangers, but they are, in general, smaller than the dangers of riding in heavy traffic. No matter how you twist and turn the numbers, that's the facts of the matter, and those dangers can be reduced to a minimum where they're barely existant. Some have pointed to the large number of bike accidents in Holland, but without noticing that the great majority of these do not involve other cyclists or cars. It's simply people who, due to inattentiveness (or, in the case of small children and elderly, clumsiness) crash on their own.

Now, the other great problem VC'ers see in separated bike paths is speed. They want to be able to commute fast and far. What they don't get is that on most Dutch or Danish bike paths, that's no problem outside the city cores (I've elsewhere pointed to lots of exampes from the Copenhagen suburban arteries). As for the city cores, that's where car traffic is generally heaviest and most packed, and often moves slowly. That's also where you actually move faster on the separated paths than you would in slow, packed car traffic. So really, where's the problem? Intersections? Yes, but it can be solved, and you will still move faster than rush hour car traffic.

This is not to say that one should have bike paths, separated or not, everywhere. Of course not. It all depends on the volume and speed of traffic, and the character of the road/street. But would I let my 12 and 14 year olds ride on their own, two miles to school through the rush hour traffic of inner Copenhagen, without separated bike paths? No way. And not even outside rush hours, to visit friends etc. I remember what it was like in my early youth before the net of bike paths was established. I hated biking in the city back then. Not because I was incompetent or whatever VC'ers may call it, but because I knew it was bloody dangerous.


Edit: It's no coincidence that the few remaining "black spots" in Copenhagen are streets with heavy traffic but without bike paths. There are a few, and without exception, they have the largest number of accidents and fatalities.